UFC 207 Results: Antonio Carlos Junior Squeaks by Marvin Vettori

Antonio Carlos Junior won a season of TUF Brasil. While this might earn him a modicum of prestige in his native country, we here in the States knows that accomplishment means zilch. In fact, it probably means opponent Marvin Vettori will cream him by virtue of simply having a pulse.

It takes all of 20 seconds for “Shoeface” to poke the Italian Vettori in the eye, so they break for a bit. When they resume, Carlos Junior and Vettori keep pawing at each other, and after the ref warns the Brazilian, Vettori pokes Carlos Junior in the eye for a brief stoppage. What the hell is going on here?

They restart, and Carlos Junior ties his foe up against the cage and works to get him down. He succeeds briefly, but they’re soon back up and the horn sounds.

Round 2 has the duo striking poorly and wrestling like they just learned how to a couple years ago, but with two minutes left Vettori flexes his muscle and gets the Brazilian down, and for most of the rest of the round, he rains down punishment from above. When Carlos Junior exposes his neck, Vettori threatens with a guillotine, and when Carlos Junior wiggles out, Vettori goes back to pounding on him. Essentially, Vettori takes the round.

The success that eluded him in previous rounds comes in the third, as Carlos Junior finds a few takedowns and has Vettori on the defensive. He doesn’t inflict much damage, but he definitely exerts control, so when the final horn sounds, this one is going to be one for the judges to mull over.